Sir Keir Starmer used his final appearance at the despatch box to claim that he is leaving the country in a better state than that in which he found it. It is also demonstrably and painfully the case that his unexpectedly brief premiership was a disappointment.
There is a decency about the man who is departing, and we should applaud him for his achievements, particularly in restoring Britain’s reputation on the international stage. It is unfortunate that he was undone by the politics of the party, and a chancellor who oversaw rising joblessness and a wave of business closures, and who is consistently ranked by polls as the most unpopular on record.
